BRUSSELS – European Union leaders are gathering Thursday to try to end an embarrassing standoff that is preventing them from imposing sanctions on senior officials in Belarus accused of falsifying election results and leading the crackdown on peaceful protesters.The roadblock borders on the absurd.
All 27 EU member countries reject the result of the Aug. 9 vote that allowed President Alexander Lukashenko to stay in office.
They want a new election and agree that sanctions should be slapped on dozens of officials, perhaps even the man once dubbed Europe’s last dictator himself.But Cyprus, one of the EU’s smallest member countries, is vetoing the move.